tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62462462014-03-19T18:41:18.071-07:00OverpunditA blog devoted to law, politics, philosophy, & life.
Nothing in this blog is to be construed as legal advice.
Bloggernoreply@blogger.comBlogger152125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1083679657411954262004-05-04T07:07:00.000-07:002004-05-04T07:11:32.670-07:00Civil Rights in an Age of Terrorism
If I were running for office, I would give the following stump speech when asked the cliched question: “How do we balance freedom with security?”
I am tired of hearing people say that because we are fighting a borderless “war on terror” we should be willing to surrender our civil rights. Indeed, we should more vigorously exercise our civil rights. Freedom Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1082563339382490812004-04-21T09:01:00.000-07:002004-04-21T09:06:25.716-07:00Bumper sticker
I saw a bumper sticker today that read:
"There is no food like breastfood."
Some things are better left unsaid.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1082515552894445702004-04-20T19:44:00.000-07:002004-04-20T19:49:57.860-07:00So maybe the problem isn't with the Intel's intel
Please see this site. I conclude that the only "intelligence" problem we have is with the intelligence of the people reading the FBI's reports.
Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1081907023559604342004-04-13T18:37:00.000-07:002004-04-13T18:47:39.046-07:00Feeney Amendment and ex post facto laws
Ruling it is "procedural rather than substantive," the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has joined other circuits in applying the PROTECT Act's de novo review of federal sentences to appeals that were pending when the act was passed.
(Free registration required).
Pre-Feeney, a judge's decision to grant a downward departure was subject to an abuse of Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1081906476078018932004-04-13T18:32:00.000-07:002004-04-13T18:38:31.640-07:00Half a cup of justice
County Attorney Barbara LaWall hired James Stuehringer to represent Peasley as he fought disbarment for allowing former Tucson Police Department Officer Joseph Godoy to lie on the stand in two capital murder trials.
If these charges are true, then a prosecution must follow.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1081544734583143602004-04-09T14:04:00.000-07:002004-04-09T14:09:24.700-07:00Books for Soldiers...
Please click (and if you are a blogger - link) here.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1081303443630685882004-04-06T18:59:00.000-07:002004-04-07T12:08:05.496-07:00Real rape
The story below shows how disgracefully our criminal justice system treats victims of false accusations of rape. Whoever was falsely accused most likely:
1. Was booked into jail where he faced being raped himself
2. Must disclose in his application for any government job that he was arrested
3. Must disclose to any State Bar he applies to that he was arrested
4. Paid thousands of Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1081303054569451902004-04-06T18:56:00.000-07:002004-04-06T19:01:20.076-07:00Ken Starr is now Dean Starr
Kenneth Starr is now Dean at the Pepperdine Law School. This should be great news for Pepperdine. The LA Times story is here. Pepperdine's announcement is here.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1081302952605904392004-04-06T18:52:00.000-07:002004-04-06T18:59:38.140-07:00Bad news...Illinois v. Caballes
It is always bad news when the Supreme Court grants cert. in a Fourth Amendment case where the lower court sided with the private citizen.
Illinois v. Caballes asks whether an officer can detain a private citizen while a police officer uses a drug dog to search his car for contraband.
Via Goldstein & Howe.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1080924814038833112004-04-02T08:53:00.000-08:002004-04-02T08:57:13.593-08:00If numbers do not change meaning over time, then why must words?
Of course, one counter-argument is that although the meaning of numbers remain fixed, words do not have clear meanings. However, who argues that the Electoral College, Art. II, §1, cl.2 is unconstitutional in today's time. It is argued to be undemocratic when it leads to the election of a President who received 500,000 less Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1080924790029176442004-04-02T08:52:00.000-08:002004-04-02T08:56:49.590-08:00The right to privacy
The pro-abortion forces think they have a monopoly on the term "the right to privacy," which means the right to kill the unborn. Very often some poll will come out showing that a supermajority of Americans support the right to privacy. And although no intelligent person believes that the right to privacy means the right to kill, a book I have been reading offers examples Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1080924758301930042004-04-02T08:51:00.000-08:002004-04-02T08:56:17.856-08:00Race, One-hundred & twenty-nine years later.
In support of a 1875 bill to "protect all citizens in their civil rights," 18 Stat. 335 (1875), Congressman Butler had this to say:
"There is not a white man [in] the South that would not associate with the negro - all that is required of this bill - if that negro were his servant. He would eat with him, suckle from her, play with her or him as Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1080870685793904482004-04-01T17:49:00.000-08:002004-04-01T17:55:05.296-08:00CrimLaw
Since I have been getting some high quality traffic lately, I want to refer the readers of the Greedy Clerk Board and How Appalling to my favorite web log, Crimlaw.
Ken Lammers is a fresh lawyer with a lot of talent. On his blog you can read a writing sample and closing argument from his different cases. Someday when he is big time, we can be proud to say, "We read his blog, when."Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1080756863903548122004-03-31T10:13:00.000-08:002004-03-31T10:18:01.356-08:00Leggo my ‘ego
I have been reading with much laughter the How Appalling blog, which parodies How Appealing and the perceived lack of humility of its owner. This discussion here shows we all have a little too much ego in us. Bloggers, in general, have issues. We put sitemeters on our blogs. We Google our blogs. We see who is linking to us so we post that someone is linking to us. We remind Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1080699913079259832004-03-30T18:24:00.000-08:002004-03-30T18:28:49.436-08:00A new blog
This new blog, Crime & Federalism, looks promising.
Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1080603901365688602004-03-29T15:44:00.000-08:002004-03-29T17:09:08.420-08:00Excepting their way around the Fourth Amendment…
Most of us do not decide to gain thirty pounds, to become intolerably grouchy, or to become immoral. Rome was not built in a day. Nor did Rome crumble in a day. Rather, as C.S. Lewis said, “The road to hell is a gentle slope.” So too is the road to tyranny.
The text of the Fourth Amendment…
The Fourth Amendment provides that “The right of Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1080579817382179102004-03-29T09:02:00.000-08:002004-03-29T09:07:12.123-08:00The Fourth Amendment has been re-written
"The right of the police to search and seize shall not be infringed, and no warrant shall be necessary if the police officer believes one is not necessary." Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1080174070883143332004-03-24T16:17:00.000-08:002004-03-24T16:24:48.950-08:00Hearsay hearings
In California, as well as many other states, the trial court may rely on hearsay statements for their truth in determining whether a defendant shall be held to answer (re: whether there is probable cause that a crime was committed and that it was committed by the defendant). Preliminary hearings are thus a sham. A police officer takes the stand. The police officer relates to Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1080173683256607502004-03-24T16:08:00.000-08:002004-03-24T16:18:11.450-08:00Sympathy?
CrimLaw notes an article discussing the recent severity of white collar criminal offenses.
I am not sympathetic to the plight of white collar criminal offenders. For years they have lobbied the state court systems to ensure that petty thieves would suffer severe punishment. For example, in California a person commits felony (grand) theft if he steals an object worth $400 or more. Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1080173193071095392004-03-24T16:02:00.000-08:002004-03-24T16:10:01.356-08:00Standing after Pringle
In Maryland v. Pringle (No. 02-809), the Supreme Court held that a police officer may arrest every occupant of a car if the officer finds illegal drugs in that car and none admit to owning the drugs.
Shouldn't this mean that each occupant of a car now has standing to challenge the lawfulness of a search of the car in which they ride? If each occupant of the car can be Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1080096835365021122004-03-23T18:53:00.000-08:002004-03-23T18:57:21.763-08:00Not out to save your soul...
The confession of a Warrensburg man who admitted to killing most of his family should be suppressed because he was interrogated by a sheriff's deputy who had also been his lay minister, a Missouri appeals court ruled Tuesday.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1079983346302215682004-03-22T11:21:00.001-08:002004-03-22T11:25:51.326-08:00Oh how the times have changed
The author of a 1982 book about finding a job as a lawyer provides this advice:
"There may be instances in which younger lawyers escorting you to dinner may offer or use marijuana or other narcotics. Even if you normally use marijuana, prudence suggests abstinence during the interviewing process. You simply are unable to gauge the effect of such an action, however Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1079983306439355282004-03-22T11:21:00.000-08:002004-03-22T11:25:11.466-08:00Priorities
Which is more important to you as a concerned citizen: 1. Justice Antonin Scalia went duck hunting with several of his long-time friends, including Vice President Cheney; or 2. Senate Democrats delayed the confirmation of at least one federal judge in order to manufacture the result of a pending appellate case?
Chances are that many Americans do not know that special-interest groups Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1079719652393280552004-03-19T10:04:00.000-08:002004-03-19T10:11:18.340-08:00Sabri v. United States - draft article
This is a draft of an article I am writing. I hope to peddle it to the Champion. Anyhow, it is a work in progress, since I will need the Court's opinion to finish it. If you have any comments, please e-mail them to me.
INTRODUCTION
March, which is tornado season, is said to come "in like a lion, out like a lamb." Expect March to bring a little Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246246.post-1079717147207332762004-03-19T09:49:00.000-08:002004-03-19T09:56:07.153-08:00Sabri v. United States
The oral argument transcript for Sabri v. United States (No. 03-44) is available here.
Although the case was briefed on Spending Clause and Necessary and Proper Clause grounds, Court watchers and Constitutional Law scholars kept asking "What's the big deal? Isn't the federal program bribery statute constitutional on commerce clause grounds?" See this exchange, for Bloggernoreply@blogger.com